Tax Day freebies range from snacks to sex toys

On Tax Day, Trojan will be handing out free Trojan vibrators (worth up to $39.99 each) at so-called pleasure carts set up in San Francisco and Los Angeles.(Photo: Trojan)

(USA TODAY) -- Tax Day isn't just a pain in the wallet. It also sucks up gobs of time and emotions.

Which
explains why so many marketers are embracing it as a day when they can
play the hero with acts of kindness -- such as handing out freebies. Big
names from Arby's to Office Depot will be doling out everything from
Tax Day snacks to free printing. Even Trojan -- yes, that Trojan -- is getting in the Tax Day freebie mix.

Most of the Tax Day freebies and deals have social-media tie-ins that require some sort of coupon.

"People
hate Tax Day," says Erika Napoletano, brand strategist with RHW Media.
"If a brand can come across as the good guy, the brand wins. It's all
about audiences feeling as if they're understood."

Some
Tax Day promos are freebies - others are deals. Some are limited to
April 15, while others stretch through the whole month of April.
(Please check brand Facebook pages or websites for details). Among this
year's goodies:

• Snacks. Great American Cookies will hand
out thousands of its new birthday cookies to lure consumers to stores
"on a day they might not have planned to go," says Jenn Johnston,
marketing chief.

Bruegger's Bagels will sell a box of 13
bagels for $10.40 (a "deduction" of nearly $3.50 per box). Last year, it
sold more than 10,000 of the Big Bagel Bundles, says Judy Kadylak,
director of marketing.

• Sexual aids. No one has a wackier Tax Day
stunt than Trojan, which will hand out Trojan vibrators (worth up to
$39.99) at "Pleasure Carts" in San Francisco and Los Angeles, says Bruce
Weiss, vice president of marketing. "It's a stimulus package they will
never forget."